For The Longest Time
by rose orwell
Summary: La Push was going to be just another town to Ellie, that is until she met Jacob Black. La Push was definitely turning out more interesting than she ever expected. An imprinting fic. J/OC with other Twilight characters appearing. Rated M for later chapters
1. Moving Day

**A/N: Well here is my first attempt at fanfiction. Please tell me what you think after you read it, no matter what you think about it. I'm up for criticism as well as just plain old comments. I hope you enjoy the prologue to what I hope will be a lovely long story. **

**As a disclaimer, Ellie and all of her family are my own creation, but any Twilight characters and the entire universe belongs to Stephenie Meyers. I do not claim any rights to them at all.**

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_Moving day…again,_ Ellie thought as she sat against the wall staring around her room which had already been completely cleaned out. A bittersweet feeling was washing over her as she reassured herself that this would be just like all of the other times, fine, yet still terrifying. No matter how many times she and her family moved she just couldn't get used to walking down a new hallway in a new school, or walking into a new crowded classroom with all eyes on her. It wasn't that she wasn't tough enough for the whole upheaval of her life, no; she had almost become immune to the quick change in surroundings, and the loss of friends she worked so hard to make. Ellie had realized after the fifth time moving that any attempts at making really good friends were futile in the little time she had with them.

Ellie let her head tilt back and touch the wall as she stared up at the ceiling, thinking. This was her routine now when she left a house for good. The whole craziness of packing would commence when her dad would announce his new place of employment and then it would all accumulate around her until she got the chance to just sit and meditate. And this time was like every other time. She was glad to be moving again. Boredom had found its way to her here faster than it had any other place, and really she had figured out no one was really going to open up to her here. Sheltered lives and close groups had met her with resistance from the day she drove into the town with her family.

_Family…_ Ellie thought smiling a little to herself. One thing Ellie knew better than that the sun was big, was that her family loved her and was always there for her. Her dad was a family doctor who had made it his mission to help people rather than just try to make a lot of money. His passion for being where he was needed led him and his family to a new town or city almost every other year. Most of the hospitals or small clinics that hired him could barely afford to keep a full-time doctor for more than a year, so he did his best to work between more than one hospital whenever he could. La Push would be no different he had told Ellie. He would work on the reservation most of the time at their small clinic, and go to Port Angeles to work on-call. He had also mentioned the possibility of the hospitals in Seattle calling him for help when needed. La Push would be just another small town to her, but hopefully it would be different than all of the other four she had experienced. Ellie could only hope, however.

Quick footsteps coming up the staircase pulled Ellie out of her trance and she shifted so that she could stand and open her door for her mother, who had been doing a last check through the house for any items missed during packing. Ellie opened the door to her room she was about to leave for the last time, before her mother could knock.

"Hey sweetie, did you get everything packed up?" Her mother questioned her softly, a frantic note rising in her voice. Ellie knew her mother freaked internally every time they moved, and she couldn't really blame her. Ellie's life wasn't the only one that changed when they moved.

"Yea, I got it all," Ellie sighed a little, and then felt anxiety rising up in her chest, "but, maybe I'll just go check one more time…" She turned and strode back into her room, looking everywhere for something she could have missed, like a picture, a CD, maybe a sock. Ellie's mom stood in the doorway and chuckled, gauging the likeliness she saw in her daughter to her own qualities. Ellie turned to her mother, satisfied that she had indeed packed everything and gave her two thumbs up.

"I think I'm ready now…yea, I am, let's go." Ellie forced herself to walk out of the room and down the stairs with her mother. Before leaving the house she stooped and grabbed her backpack she had dropped by the front door and swung it over her shoulders. She walked out into the bright, hot, dry sunlight and looked around at the yard and driveway. The car had been loaded down with their possessions they didn't put in the moving truck so much that Ellie thought that at any moment, the car could do what typically happens in cartoons and fall to pieces, spilling all of the contents and its parts on the driveway.

"Hey there Ellie!" called John Taylor, one of her neighbor's who was standing in the driveway chatting with her dad about the plan. The plan was for Ellie, her mom, and her little sister Kate to catch a ride with John to the airport, while her Dad and her younger brother drove up to Washington with the family car and the rest of their stuff. The plan had never really changed except for the addition of Kate within the past six years, and the neighbor offering the ride and destination obviously being new every time.

Ellie's mom tugged the reluctant Kate out of the house, and pulled the door shut behind her, locking it. "Is everyone ready?" she called from the front step. Everyone mumbled their answer, Ellie's little brother Daniel already sitting in the car, and said goodbyes to each other for the time being. John Taylor and Ellie's dad hugged each other, trying to maintain a level of manliness however, which caused Ellie to stifle a laugh. Soon they were all headed away from the house in their separate cars, and not once did Ellie look back as she was leaving, but kept her eyes forward on the road.

_Goodbye Texas…_she thought as they drove on towards the airport.


	2. Arrival

**So here is chapter two. Thanks to you who reviewed :) I hope that more of you will so you can tell me what you think. I might be a little longer with the next chapter because I am still working out the rough spots. Enjoy this one though. :)  
**

**As a disclaimer, only Anna and her family are my creation. Jacob and all other Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyers.**

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Reaching over to help Kate unbuckle her seat belt, Ellie let out a relieved sigh. Flying still wasn't on the top of her to-do list, but she got over it. She stood up and helped her mom grab Kate's carry on, and reached back up to grab her own backpack, clutching it to her stomach as she scooted down the aisle of the plane slowly. Once out into the airport Ellie, her mother, and sister looked around for the way to the car rental section. Ellie's father, Ron, and her brother, Daniel, would not be in Washington anytime soon to pick them up from the airport.

"I'm so glad to be out of that plane," Ellie's mother said with hints of exhaustion creeping into her voice, "I really don't like the tiny planes. You can feel every bump and hear every sound." Her mother continued to complain about the flying conditions on smaller planes until they had gotten further along through the small airport. Ellie swiped her deep chestnut colored bangs out of her eyes quickly as they rounded the corner towards the smallest car rental station attached to an airport Ellie had ever seen. Just outside the doors of the airport she could see four cars parked and waiting to be needed. Ellie wondered what would happen if someone found a stain in the shape of the Virgin Mary on their couch cushion and the town suddenly became a tourist trap. _There would definitely not be enough cars to go around_, she thought. Her mother rented a four-door standard sedan, and got directions to La Push for their own benefit, although the sales person told them it would be hard not to find La Push if they just went in the right direction.

Ellie grabbed the keys from her mother once they were secured, convincing her mom that she needed to rest, rather than worry about where the heck they were. They walked out of the door into something Ellie had not been prepared for…Rain. The slightest drizzle was coming down, making the air almost look foggy. The three of them stood looking out into the wet Washington weather from the covered sidewalk before deciding that they had to venture out into it. The rain wasn't pouring so hard that it was terribly inconvenient, yet the cold stuck to her as she got into the drivers side of the car. Water had seemed to soak into her light jacket to the point that she felt damp all over. Her mother climbed in next to her complaining about the weather now, and how her hair was becoming frizzier by the second. Ellie looked at her mother's perfect hair and laughed.

"Beggars can't be choosers, mom," she noted as she started up the car and drove to the road that would take them to their new house. Ellie thought, trying to decide whether she would call this new house "home" or not; sometimes it helped later on if she didn't get so attached in the beginning. She flicked the windshield wipers on with a grumble.

"Well, I'm definitely not begging honey," her mom said sadly. Ellie knew that the last town they had been at had been great for her mom. She had found a part-time job, a great book club, and lots of good friends, but she had to leave them all behind.

"Do you think we will ever stop moving and settle down once and for all?" Ellie questioned her mom who gave a slight shrug and a mumbled noise of indecision. Kate whimpered from the backseat at the thought of continued moving. Ellie had hardened to it though, she had a shell, or a wall that she threw into place every time she entered a new town. She caught her reflection in the rear-view mirror; her icy blue eyes looked pained and tired from the day's stress and dark circles were stretching further out onto her pale skin. Sleep would be good, but it was more likely that when she got to the house they would still have everything in one room from the movers unpacking, and would either have to sleep on the floor or a couch. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm in her head and drove on towards the reservation.

--

The car pulled into the driveway in front of the house, and Ellie judged the new house's outside appearance. It was about a seven on a scale to ten, and she had definitely lived in worse looking houses. The scariest and most hideous was a house they had lived in while in inner city St. Louis. The bars on the windows and doors were just plain unnerving and reassured Ellie that at any moment someone might try to beak in. But the nature of her dad's job took them to many less-fortunate areas, so they never really had a great house, and she didn't really care. The house in front of her was a sandy brown color with a white door on the front, it was two stories and slightly large. Just from passing glances Ellie had seen that most of the houses in La Push were small, one-story affairs on the edge of the woods, and she was not surprised that their house was almost as small, but just big enough for four very small bedrooms, two miniscule bathrooms, and a kitchen/ living room.

Ellie turned the key in the ignition, and looked over at her mother, who had within the first ten minutes of the ride, quietly dozed off. Kate too was sleeping, spread out across much of the back seat. Nudging her mother awake, Ellie swung her door open and grabbed her back from the back before picking up Kate, trying not to wake her. After extracting the key to the new house from her purse, Ellie's mother opened the door and they walked inside and flicked on the light switch.

"Let there be light!" mumbled Ellie's mother, but to their surprise, there was no light coming from the bulb in the middle of the room.

"No way…we better not have to live on candlelight for two years…" Ellie shuddered, thinking of how hard it would be to read and do homework in the dim light. Functioning at all would be difficult as well.

"I'm not cooking over a campfire for that long either," her mother replied.

"I bet it just hasn't been turned on yet. I'll call the place if you take Kate." Ellie wagered. There was a confusing moment of how to transfer Kate from person to person without waking her, but they finally managed, and Ellie was on her cell phone calling the electric department. Within minutes the electricity was turned on and the light flashed on.

"Phew, that saved us many cold showers, hot dog meals, stubbed toes…" her mother went on, complaining to the most optimistic degree she could.

Ellie wandered. She found herself in a small bathroom, and then directly into a medium sized bedroom. Her mother was right behind her with a blow-up mattress under her arm, "You're room is upstairs on the right." Ellie nodded and moved out into the hallway and up the staircase. Her room was the only room on the right side, and was a decent size. This was it though, seeing her room made the move feel official, and now she only waited to get all of her stuff so she could unpack and fold up the boxes for the next time.

--

The next day rolled around and finally Ellie's dad and brother had arrived. After much lugging of boxes into the house Ellie's dad had asked her to change the oil in the car. It was a cool September day, the wind was rustling through the yellowing leaves and the dampness from the night before had left so that the air felt crisp and clean. Washington weather was questionable to Ellie, it being so chilly already, but she decided it was going to be better that 70 degree Christmases. She popped open the hood of the car and checked the oil and decided to actually change it among checking up on other things. It would seem strange to anyone that she actually knew the inner workings of cars, but after being bored in so many places, Ellie had picked up on a lot of skill, knowing how to tune up a car was just one of them.

Ellie slid under the car and began working, and heard footsteps sounding the approach of her dad. He slid down the side of the car and sat against it, coming to give Ellie company.

"So, after you're done I suppose we could all go walk around the town and check it out. Or maybe you could go and try to find some friends," he suggested, purely trying to be helpful. Ellie however became annoyed, it was only her first day in La Push and parent number one was already bugging her about making friends.

"That's okay dad, I think I'll stay back and unpack instead," Ellie said, trying to sound like she was sorry.

"Alright, maybe another time," he sighed standing up, "and thanks for doing this," he said tapping the car. He walked lazily into the house and Ellie let out a sigh. She would find friends when she was ready.

When she had finished doing what she knew how to do on the car she slid out from under it and closed the hood. She turned towards the street wiping her hands on her jeans to see a boy standing there staring at her. _Great, _she thought, _already the newest circus attraction…_The boy was tall and muscular; his hair was chin length and a rust-like color, and his skin was tanned. Ellie stood on her spot staring back at the boy. They stood like that until finally Ellie raised one of her eyebrows, smirking at the boy. The boy shook his head slightly and then he turned and continued walking down the street. Leaning against the car, Ellie stood trying to figure out what had just happened. Part of her felt as though she had been seen right through, and another part of her wondered if she had a huge zit on her forehead. She quickly reached up. _Nope, definitely not a zit. _

Ellie wandered over to the front porch and looked down the street to see the boy still walking away. Just as she looked down the road to him he turned around to see her standing there, but this time, he kept walking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter. Hooray! A super thanks to all who have favorited, reviewed, anything. Thank you for making this fun for me to write, and for making me feel all mushy and happy inside. Haha. Tell me what you think about this chapter, because it was my experiment with using two POVs. **

**All Twilight characters and the universe belong to Stephenie Meyers. Ellie, her family, and pretty much anything you don't recognize are my own. Enjoy!**

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Jacob turned and mentally kicked himself. He walked at a leisurely pace down the street, mumbling to himself about exactly how stupid he was, and why he was. _Did I really think I could get away with flat out staring like that?! _Jacob scolded himself, like a mother telling her son it's not polite to point. But he wondered if he would have been able to just walk away after seeing the sight he had seen. He scratched his head a little, thinking back to it…a girl…working on a car. The Earth had stopped spinning for a moment and the Universe's expansion was put on pause…Or at least Jacob was put on pause for a moment as he stared at what could possibly be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, ever.

The only bad thing about the scene was that she eventually caught him looking. This was not so bad for Jacob in some ways, because he managed to see the rest of her, not just what he could see under the car, and she was beautiful. Her pale skin was a direct contrast to his own, her blue eyes stood out against her dark hair, and her skinny short stature was extremely different from his own. He was well, huge, in a non-tubby kind of way. She stood with a sort of confidence that had made Jacob stare even more than he already was. She had not shied away under his direct gaze, which told him that she was probably a strong girl underneath all of the beauty.

Jacob continued walking on to Quil's house, still kicking himself, knowing well enough that the little staring contest that had happened between him and the girl would be their last for sure. After being caught staring he was almost positive that she would never be able to look at him again without thinking of him as the weird creepy guy who had stared her down one evening. But at the moment all he really wanted was to talk to the girl, even look at her again. He could only assume that she would be going to his high school so he knew he would get a chance, and he could only hope that any chance at getting to know her wouldn't be futile after that little episode.

Jacob walked past the house he was meant to go to, forgetting going to Quil's to play video games. The thought of sitting around with a bunch of guys who smelled like dogs was not appealing. He walked down to the gas station in the middle of the small town and reached in his pocket for his wallet. He extracted a quarter and found his way over to the payphone directly outside the door of the little store. He knew what he had to do now. With a clink-clink-clink-clink the quarter moved its way into the belly of the machine and he dialed. After two rings, the other end of the line picked up.

"Bella…" Jacob exclaimed…

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"Ellie!" called her mother from the first floor of the small house. Ellie was sitting in her new room looking around at her currently blank walls. She had a stack of old records and a few nails that she had decided to put up on her walls, but had yet to decide if she liked the color of her walls as they were. Ellie scrunched up her nose at the light pink color one last time before standing to answer her mother.

"Yes?" she replied gliding down the stairs quickly, stopping on the last step.

"Will you go into town and run some errands for me?" her mother, Carol, asked.

"I will, only if you let me buy some new paint for my walls," Ellie bargained sweetly with her mother. She hoped that her mother would permit her a few extra dollars for a gallon of paint or two so she didn't have to stare at the pink color that was more suited to Kate's tastes than her own. Her mother quickly thought about the offer and shrugged. Ellie knew that this was just another step in her adjustment process, just as much as her mom couldn't call a house home unless she had cooked a family meal in it.

"Deal," Carol replied, handing the keys to the family car and a wad of cash to Ellie. She walked into the kitchen with Ellie right behind her and scribbled out a list of things she needed from the grocery store.

"And fill up the gas before you come home…" Carol called as Ellie walked out the front door and pulled the door open to the car. She decided to stop and fill up before she went on to her other destinations, so Ellie pulled out of the driveway and headed on towards the gas station. As she drove, she looked around at the surroundings, noticing how beautiful the reservation was. The mossy green forests surrounding the houses and little stores seemed so deep and dense, the green color was astounding, and Ellie just wanted to walk through it all and soak up the atmosphere.

Ellie filled up the tank of gas, cringing at the amount of money she was paying, even though it wasn't hers. She walked swiftly into the little convenient store and picked up all of the things her mother needed, glad to not have to stop at the grocery store as well. After paying, Ellie got directions to the hardware store, which was thankfully only ten minutes away from her current location.

--

Ellie stood in the hardware store, staring thoughtfully at all of the paint chips lined up on the wall. There were so many of them that her head started to spin, going through combinations in her head. She plucked out two green colors that reminded her of the woods around her house, a random light orange color, and a lavender color. Still not satisfied with her choices, Ellie moved to the next display where she pulled a dark purple chip and a rich burgundy color. She stared down at her color palette in her hands not knowing which color to choose. It would have to wait until her mom could have a say, she decided and went to leave the store. Just as she looked up, Ellie saw standing at the end of the row staring at her, the same boy from the day after her arrival to La Push.

He stared at her again, although this time his face had a small smirk played across it. _What the heck,_ she thought. And just when she thought it would be another staring match, the boy broke eye contact and glanced at the paint chips in her hand, still fanned out to show all of the colors. His face brightened slightly and he looked to the wall of colors, Ellie still staring at him intently, trying to decide what was going on.

The boy slid a color out of a slot and handed it to her, still smirking. "A girl who fixes cars and shops at a hardware store…I like this one better than those," he stated, his voice full of wonder. Ellie was surprised at how kind and gentle his voice sounded, his stature and looks giving her the wrong impression at first. He smiled, nodded to her and walked away. As he did, Ellie glanced down at the paint chip he had handed her. The color was a grayish blue color. Ellie loved it. It was perfect. After purchasing two gallons of the paint, Ellie left the hardware store, still slightly bewildered.

Ellie drove away from the store with so many thoughts running through her mind. _Who was that? Why did we just meet again? Wow he is so handsome. Why the heck didn't I say anything back to him? Stupid Ellie, stupid stupid. _Ellie's mind was filled with the clutter of questions and thoughts. Her head started to ache as she pulled into her driveway, and she gladly turned off the engine and pulled the groceries from the car. Once inside Ellie put them away and then ran to her room with her paint. Moving everything to the center of the room, Ellie taped the edges of the wood trim, her windows, door, and ceiling. Something inside her clicked when she went to open the first can of paint. She knew how she would be able to find out more about the boy.


End file.
